


Hush, my Child

by Kladdis



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Amnesia, Blood, Dark Cell, F/F, Forced Abortion, Gore, Identity Issues, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Inspiration: RL nightmare, Mindfuck, Multi, Not your normal OC fic, Personality Disorder, Rape?, Roleplay - kinda, STEM, Tagging this is so weird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 02:37:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7202882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kladdis/pseuds/Kladdis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>STEM is a horrible place - that much the Woman knew from the very beginning. No recollection of who she was, the Woman must stumble through Ruvik's nightmare realm, killing monsters and gaining allies on the way while avoiding the attention of the scarred psychopath like the pest. </p><p>But it appears that her stay inside the madman's brain has changed her, both mentally and physically. The Woman finds herself slipping, her sanity slowly dissolving into a stream of blood and gore around her feet.</p><div class="center">
  <p>I promise it is not <em>this</em> kind of OC fanficiton</p>
</div>
            </blockquote>





	Hush, my Child

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Croik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Croik/gifts).



> Welp, this just happened. Honestly started with a nightmare (I do enjoy those) and when I began writing, I just had to gift this to you. Kinda couldn't write a 'The Evil Within' fanfiction without thinking of you, so here ya go. 
> 
> Knock'em dead, honey.
> 
>  
> 
> And I want to thank my Beta [Starysky205](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Starysky205/pseuds/Starysky205) for comforting the insecure shit out of me.

In STEM, it does not matter who you were before. It does not matter if you had a family, friends, _a dog_. It simply vanishes, eaten away by filthy monsters and the need to survive.

The Woman thinks that she was a journalist of some sorts. At least that's what Ruvik claims when he hunts her down, when he toys with her. She was in no way special, she was not favoured by the psychopath nor was she ignored. A wooden pawn, not important enough to be maimed constantly but a few visits to ensure that the strings are still connected.

In STEM, it does not matter how long one had been inside the machine, because there was no _outside_ anymore. Reality is an illusion and STEM is the most prominent one. The Woman thinks that she had been pretty long inside his brain. She had uncovered some mysteries around the scarred psychopath and had killed her fair share of monsters. In no way special, just another fighter who would - in time - succumb to the greater evil that is Ruvik and become one of his special mindless.

In a strange way, that thought comforted the Woman. If she was to fail, she would still have a purpose to fulfil – she would be still needed.

When she first met the other man – Sebastian he claimed to be, (so he had not been as long inside STEM as she, at a certain point it was no longer important what your name was) she had wanted to kill him, rip his gut open with the butchers knife she had found a few stages prior. It would be a lie to say that she wouldn't have enjoyed seeing the slick, fluid like intestines spilling on the ground, no muscles or skin to hold them in anymore.

But a shouted 'stop' had frozen her motions; no one had ever looked so... _lucid_. They had talked, the man had told her about the other two he was looking for, Joseph and Kidman, and had asked for the Woman's help.

But she is and had never been stupid, she knew that the second they teamed up, Ruvik would find her remotely interesting again. And his interest was deadly.

So she had declined, but offered aid whenever they saw each other. Several run-ins later with all three - Kidman was strange to be around, it made the Woman's head hurt and Joseph was slowly being corrupted by Ruvik - the Woman had been given the name 'Sophia'. It said nothing to her and was just weight to drag her down, so she did not bother to claim the name her own, but when someone called, she turned.

She survived longer than the rest, partly because of her good relationship with the three humans as well as being more attentive and fighting for her live – survival - the hardest. Avoiding the attention of the mad man, she sneaked around, butchering her way through hordes of monsters.

But the longer she had lived inside the brain, the more she had changed. The Woman was sure that Ruvik did not realize what he was doing to her, she was sure it was subconsciously. It helps nothing against the fang-like teeth in her mouth or the curved talons on her hands that made holding a gun a real hassle. It did not change her empty eyes, still seeing but hollow - what the past colour had been; that, the woman could not remember anymore. It was not important enough anyway.

 

When the curtain lifted another time, she had been inside an old office, the wooden panels of the floor loose and creaky. To her sides had been milky glass embedded in light wooden frames, separating working areas. It had looked awfully clean and neat for a place as destructive as Ruvik's mind, so it had been not wonder when the room rapidly decayed in front of her eyes, the cheap tiles of the ceiling falling down, fans rusting and stopping to spin. It had been no surprise when old blood stains appeared on the glass to her sides, writing the sins of the building indecipherable on the opaque surface and shadows of screaming face pressed against its pane while viscous gore began to pour onto the cheap carpet on the wooden floor.

The Woman was not fazed by the change, that part of her humanity long gone. Not caring for the blood, she continued her way through the office, passing the carrels that stayed empty. The Woman did not trust the calm and her hand had clenched around her trusted hunting knife (she had found it after her beloved butcher knife had been destroyed by a nightmare creature) until her knuckles went white and her hand stained from the effort. Muscles tense, she carefully took step after step, listening for the smallest of sounds, the smallest indication that an attack was about to come.

Nothing had happened thus far, but her body refused to relax, her hands still painfully clenched and her steps still carefully taken.

Then she heard it. Heavy breathing came from one of the carrels, sound deeper than the normal creatures around here. Resolve steeled in her eyes as she slowly approached the sound, her posture similar to a coiled viper, ready to strike and kill at any moment.

The Woman was two carrels from the sound when it stopped as abruptly as it had come. Whatever creature had made it must have been alerted by her presence. Shit... That would make things a lot more complicated for the Woman. Why could Ruvik's nightmares not stand still while she slaughtered them? They always had to fight - or run, for that matter.

Not faltering in her careful step, she raised her knife in order to fend off any surprise attack the maker of the sound was planning. They tend to react vicious and rabid when cornered and the Woman couldn't really use another injury. She was all out of healing syringes and the improvised bandages were spare with what little clothing she still had on her body to fend off infections in her lower regions and to stay _decent_ \- as if that had ever saved someone's life. Well, at least they died pretty.

A few steps away from the previous sound, she began to hear low breathing. The stain was clearly audible with which the owner tried to keep calm. A human, it seemed.  
Hmpf, why not? It's been a while, after all.

With two powerful steps, she reached the entryway of the carrel, knife high in the air to strike at a moment’s notice and to sink the bloody metal into the soft flesh connecting neck with throat. The Woman barley noticed the barrel of a gun being brutally shoved into her stomach before she recognized the human below. Stopping the knife an inch from skin, she let a breathy “Sebastian” leave her lips. Her dry throat and underused vocal cords wanted to protest, but she had ignored her bodily needs for quite some time. No need to heed its wants now.

“Sophia?” blurted Sebastian, clearly still out of breath and unbelieving. The barrel left the uncomfortable spot between her gut. “What the hell are you doing here?”

He sat on a rotating office chair, his leg painfully angled. Sebastian probably had been nursing his wounds when he had heard the Woman approaching.

“You look awful. What happened to your face?” Sebastian continued as the Woman said nothing. She needed to catch her breath as well and more importantly move inside the carrel to have at least some protection. “Are those... _fangs?_ ”

Maybe the journalist the Woman used to be would have laughed at Sebastian's face, but as it was, she just shrugged it off and nodded towards the human’s leg. “Need any help with that?” She hated how stained her voice sounded from just a few words. She should really start talking to herself again or her vocal cords would completely decay.

“Do you have any syringes?” Her human asked doubtfully, eyeing the various injuries on her body that she had evidently _not_ healed. But as the Woman shook her head he still sighed disappointed. “Thought so. Would you mind looking around for some? I can hardly stand, you can fucking forget walking.”

The Woman shook her head again. “I haven't found any medication for three stages.” she clarified and dutifully listened to Sebastian's curses. “I can try to splint the leg, but it won't do any good in the long run.” she offered as the human in front of her calmed down a little bit.

“That's no problem. As I know the asshat, my leg will be fine when he sends me into the next nightmare.” groaned Sebastian. He was surprised to see the Woman grimacing.

“Ruvik heals you? He has never done that for me...” she mumbled, letting her gaze wander to everything except the human on the chair. This was really uncomfortable for her, listening to the privileges of the others in Ruvik's brain. She had never gotten anything for free, always had to fight with nails and teeth for a simple syringe or ammunition while the three humans seem to find those things on the fly.

“Well, could you maybe still splint my leg then? I kinda suck at those things.” laughed Sebastian awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck self-conscious. He relaxed a little once the Woman nodded again and flinched as she broke a leg from the cheap wooden desk as if it was a twig. Holding the desks surface to steady its contents, she slowly lowered the wooden tabletop to the ground in order to prevent unnecessary noise.

Without waiting for permission, she ripped Sebastian's west from his shoulder, grateful that he had removed his gun holsters beforehand and shred it into equally wide stripes. The human's lips let animalistic growl pass as the Woman straighten the broken leg abruptly to tie the wooden table piece to it.

“Stop complaining, I'm almost done” chuckled the Woman, disregarding the sounds of distress coming from her human. He had felt a lot of pain and he would continue to feel a lot of pain, so there was no real need to be careful. The burning at her side reminded her of the encounter with an axe wielding madman that had gotten the better of her. He was dead (as dead as one can be in Ruvik's mind) of course, but it did not lessen the pain, only the frustration.

“Could you at least be a little bit gentler? You're almost as brutal as the nightmares around here.” complained Sebastian, but she had little patience for that. If he was able to complain, he was not dead. “It doesn't help that you almost look like them.” muttered the human under his breath, but she had heard it either way.

“Am I really looking that bad?” she chipped. Well at least it felt like she had, by the expression on Sebastian's face, it had been an ill attempt. She wondered for a second if she had been sassy when she still was someone.

“Bad? I don't mean to be rude, but you could slice a cow like butter with theses claws.” grumbled the human. “You are covered in blood, dirt and - I don't really want to know what the grey, squishy stuff is – with the bare minimum of cloth. I had no idea trousers could be this short!”

“Well, I don't find med kits lying around like candy in a van, we don't _all_ have the favour of Ruvik to keep us alive.” jeered the Woman. This conversation was pissing her off and she did not like the insulted look on her humans face.

“Favour? _Favour?_ If you want that brainiac to throw monsters at you on every turn while trying to make you pity him, go ahead! Knock yourself out!” shouted Sebastian before self-consciously looking around the office. He _had_ been pretty loud. The Woman did the same, but she teased “Well, if any creature in the whole building did not know we were here, they do now.”

The human looked down, eyes filled with something akin to guilt. A deep sigh. “You are right, sorry… We should really get moving. But that does not mean I agree with you!” he barked, a challenge in his eyes. The Woman just shrugged again, a motion that made the human huff in annoyance.

But despite that, they started to head for the exit side by side once the Sebastian had secured the leather stripes and belts holding his arsenal of weapons, slowed down by his injury. It would not be a fun journey; that much was clear. The Woman contemplated for a second if she should just leave him behind. He would drag her down and reduce her range of mobility considerably. She would not be able to run away from terrors, not be able to climb structures to flee.

And even when she disagreed in most aspects, the human was right in one. Ruvik was daily sending hordes of monsters Sebastian's way and had up to date visited the man more often than Ruvik had hunted the Woman on her entire stay. It was extremely dangerous to be around the human, with or without injury. It was extremely dangerous being around any human at all. So when the Woman turned towards her limping companion, she was ready to tell him goodbye.

But as her gaze fell upon the man, he turned to meet it with his own. A sad smile played on his lips and let him look around ten times older. “I know, you can't remember anything from your previous life but I hope that you can get your memory back once we are out of this hell-hole. Maybe we find someone who knows you? I'm a detective, as you know. It's child's play to find someone who'd recognise you.” The smile turned more sincere and the Woman felt unable to turn away. This man had no idea who she was (she herself was not better, mind you) but he wanted to help her either way, because he considered her a friend.

This kind of compassion and empathy was rarely seen inside STEM and suddenly the Woman understood Ruvik's interest in her human. How he could preserve these kind of feelings inside this never ending nightmare, that was a wonder in itself.

So the woman decided to repay him in equal coin and smiled as well. Sebastian didn't even flinch at the sight of her fangs anymore. She would stay with her human and see him safe until he could heal himself. Satisfied with a problem solved, she returned her gaze towards the exit and hummed in content.

Then, hell broke loose.

* * *

The only indication of imminent doom was a lonely figure, staggering into view through the emergency exit at the far end of the office. It swayed there for a few seconds, in which the Woman and Sebastian just stood, frozen in shock, staring at the greyish skin, the barbered wire surrounding its head and the butter knife in its gnarled hands. Before either of them could muster any reaction, the creature snapped its head around, familiar empty eyes staring right at the pair. Opening its mouth wide, _just_ out of the norm, the nightmare in front of them let out a shattering screech which pierced their ears and jolted them out of their immobility.

But before one muscle could be moved, the air was filled with the sound of shattering. The previously vague shadowy faces behind the carrel glass now revealed themselves as fully fledged monsters, completely surrounding the odd pair.

While Sebastian let out a series of well fitting curses, the Woman already brought down her knife, driving the cold metal between brittle cranial bones. When she pulled back, the knife bailey stained due to her speed, Sebastian finally fend off his state of shock and began to frantically shoot the walking corpses.

His back was firmly turned into her direction, as if he expected the Woman to cover him. Which she probably should, since she wanted to protect her human. But the Woman did not have the time to think about those silly things.

Not even waiting for the previously stabbed body to fall to the ground, she had swirled around, embedding her knife into another squishy neck. Next into the centre of a chest, an eye socket, a mouth. Around her dropped bodies to the ground like flies, her mind blank.  
Stab. Pull out. Stab. Pull out. Dodge. Stab. Pull out. Stumble over a body. Catch herself. Stab. Knife bloody. Pull out. Mind emptily. Stab. Stomach aching. Pull out. _Tired_. Stab. Why was she still doing this? Pull out. _Why was she still doing this_? Stab. **Why was she still doing this?** Pull...

Her knife was stuck.

The Woman stared dumbfounded at the creature in front of her. The knife was caught between its rips, sliced through the fat of its breasts. What was the difference between the Woman and this _thing_? Was the Woman really so vain to claim she was above this vile creature? Blind to the surrounding chaos, the Woman continued to stare.

The monster – nightmare - standing a few paces ahead had hollow eyes, claws as hands which made it difficult to hold the blunt blade and fangs in her mouth. They _all_ looked like that. They all looked like the Woman. But then, what was the difference between them? Because if the Woman was the same as the rest, she only had the right to be _a_ woman.

“Sophia, what the _fuck_ are you standing there for? We have to go!”

From somewhere behind the curtain, a familiar voice called. A woman felt a pulling sensation at the back of the little piece of cloth around her thorax, a force that didn't falter, even as she failed to catch up with its speed. She was dragged away from the mess ahead of her, only vaguely aware of the lucidity returning to her. Realization began to dawn and panic managed to wiggle its way into her system.

Her legs finally remembered that they actually still worked and it was on a woman to pull the fleshba- human in it's selected direction. The noise of a match lit faintly reached her ear; the agonizing screams following that sound on the other hand did well. She could have been one of them. _She should have been one of them_.

A quick motion of her wrist send the heavy metal door flying open, banging loud against the cheap walls. A long corridor, continuing to both sides of the door gave the distinctive feeling of a crossroad. Sidestepping, a woman let the human, Sebastian she remembered; enter the hallway as well before she shut the doors again. Its hinges protested loudly, but it held firmly – well, as firmly as anything in this building could be. The two stood on either side of the door, locking gazes.

“What the hell happened back there? You just stood there, doing _nothing_!” growled Sebastian while levelling her with as much accusation as he could muster right now. The woman tried to look guilty to the floor. It did not feel like it worked.

“My...knife got...stuck” she mumbled half-heartedly.

“Well, that is not really an excuse! That is like you would say a canary-” But a woman would never find out how a petty bird could be compared to their situation.

The world tilted; a woman's centre of gravity shifting. She saw that wherever she began to fall, Sebastian did not. The world had bend between them, making them fall into different voids. A scream left them simultaneously at that discovery.

The world went black, the curtain fell and a woman - completely insignificant - had caught the attention of a madman.

* * *

When a woman hit hard ground with an animalistic grunt, she was confused and disoriented. The world was still black, silent and void of... well, _everything_. It was highly worrisome, since normally Ruvik – when he decided it was time for a change of tapestry - filled the new stage with all kind of horrors and monstrosities. But here? Nothing.

Not even a flimsy little blood stain. Just void.

The silence began to gnarl at a woman's sanity. She could not see her own hands in front of her face, the blackness swallowing everything. Was she even alone? She would have heard when someone came, would she? But what if it stood right behind her? A sense of wrongness filled her and panic washed through her body. _Turn around. There is someone behind you..._ Forcibly calming her breath, a woman closed her eyes for good measure. She could trick herself into believing that as soon as she would open her eyes, a brightly lit room would be seen. She. Was. In. Control. _There is someone. Can't you hear his heart beat?_

Cold sweat began to pour down her back, limps shacking in fear. No matter how many times she told herself, her consciousness still knew the truth. There was nothing in front of her. There could be _everything_ in front of her. There could be a monster at her back, breathing down her neck and she would not realise it until it was too late.

She would die.

That was it. Goodbye Sebastian, Kidman and Joseph. This was her end station, her final harbour. If she was not killed, she would go insane. If she did not go insane, she would be killed. Or kill herself, when both possibilities combined.

“Completely ordinary. How predictably boring.” jeered a bodiless voice from the void around her. A woman instantly recognized it - of course – but she still shivered at the gravely quality, the complete lack of emotions in Ruvik's voice. A sob escaped her lips, where was that bastard?

“Still, the question bothers me. How was such a low specimen able to shake off my influence?” Ruvik continued, this time his voice was clearly located behind her right shoulder. Like a predator, he began to circle around a woman, studying her reactions.

Fear was probably the most prominent emotion inside her body right now. Second to it was despair, wrenching her guts into a tight knot. She had fucked up. For how long had she been able to deflect the madman's sight? And now, she had his full attention.

She would not last a minute.

Still with her eyes closed, she turned her head slightly towards where she felt Ruvik's presence, swallowing spit to talk, to defend herself, maybe bargain for her life, but her lips were sealed with panic. Not a single sound aside the occasional sob managed to squeeze its way past the swollen muscle. In the distance, a faintly parody of Schubert's _Serenade_ rang.

“I must wonder... Maybe the subject could be of use in the future. The influence I still have over it, combined with its still lucid intelligence - as limited and primitive as it is - could be exactly what I need.” Stepping out of the shadow as if it was a silky blanket, Ruvik appeared directly in front of a woman. When had she opened her eyes? Had it really made no difference?

She let a startled whelp out, barely resisting the urge to step back. Her eyes wide; breath short and raged, a woman was close to hyperventilating. But the hooded man just gave her an unimpressed stare as he kept analysing her.

“Listen to me, subject. Listen closely as I _will not_ repeat myself. Understood?” The unsaid thread hung in the thick air between them, making a woman shiver even harder, the veil of panic lifting just enough for her to nod. She was a lot, but not stupid enough to refuse an order given directly by the madman.

And so Ruvik talked.

* * *

A sewer. When the curtain lifted yet again, of course she had to be in a _sewer_. The most disgusting place inside STEM, taking in account the room were every surface had been covered in flesh, and Ruvik expected her to carry out his order _here_? Which was a whole other problem in itself, because Ruvik had not outright told her what he wanted done - had left her to her tools to figure that one out.

She would have howled in fury, if she hadn't been so dried of emotions, had she not felt them to an intensity that could not be healthy. So she just stood passively in the knee high water, contemplating how shitty her existence was. She knew deep down that she could not refuse Ruvik, but admitting it was a whole other cake.

A woman had seemingly sold her sanity to the devil without contract and had gotten a slap on the fingers in return. Great; just fucking _great_. And it certainly did not help that a woman felt more there, more lucid that she had in _weeks_. It was unfair to hold the bone in front of her face, wiggling it a bit before snapping it away again. Because there was no way in hell Ruvik would let her walk away after whatever he wanted her to do. That train was already gone and left her in a non-breathable dust cloud.

Unrelated memories swirled in her mind, confusing the shit out of her. A woman was fairly sure she had a dog. Or a very big cat. A boyfriend? Or a very close brother, maybe. Was that kind of relationship even healthy with siblings? Her favourite colour had been orange and she had loved fruit cakes. Maybe a vegetarian? That would be kind of ironic, since she had been eating... flesh... inside STEM. She had a single Daffodil on the windowsill. An old Sycamore in front of her apartment. She had been a _person_.

Why had she thrown all that away? Had she valued her life so little to bargain it on a whim? Who was she?

Sharp pain split her skull, an unbearable loud, high-pitched sound ringing in her ears. It was for only a moment, but enough to bring the message across that Ruvik did not look kindly on her dwelling. Stupid shithead.

Pretty pissed off, a woman began to slowly walk down the narrow sewer tunnel. There were no surveys on the slick sides of the tunnel, because _why would there be?_ It was after all still Ruvik's mind. We would not want that sucker to appear like he _cared_.

Wow...

Her past self was sassy as fuck. So she had been at least right with that assumption. A woman must have been pretty badass.

That thought filled her chest with a brightly burning feeling of pride. Even when her days were counted, even when she would dissolve into an insane pile of rotten meat, she _had_ been a person. A person with a family, a dog/cat, a live. Could one feel homesick for a place they could not remember? A woman certainly could.

It wasn't long until she heard voices in the distance, echoing from the walls and giving it an unnatural touch. Hehe, unnatural.

A woman knew who that was, but it did not make the dread inside her gut disappear. Why were they here?

_”When I was a young, I had an older sister. Her name was Laura.”_

The noise disappeared suddenly, hushed whispers vibrating of the walls. A woman decided to identify herself before bullets would fly through the air, piercing her skin.

“It's me. Sophia” she called out, her voice hoarse and ragged. But there was a slight change in tone, a certain lifelines that had not been there before. Asshole.

A few surprised shouts and a lot of loud running accompanied by splashing disgusting water later, a woman was reunited with a fully healed Sebastian and Joseph, the latter looking surprisingly sane. Maybe Ruvik had better to do than to maim the poor guy. Screw that, the woman knew that Ruvik had better to do. Hopefully. Perhaps.

A woman did not flinch when Joseph aimed his magnum at her head nor did she as Sebastian began to accuse the other man of treason and overreaction. Or something like that.

“I'm not one of them” she said passively, but it was enough for the shorter man to lower his chosen instrument of death. Even when it was just a little, the gun far from being hold slack or - for the love of god - even holstered.

“What do you mean? You look just like them” fretted Joseph, yet again ignoring his partner’s objections.

But a woman just shrugged. She was in no way ready to acknowledge this statement. “It is awfully wet around here. Should we not look for a place that does _not_ make me wish I could chew of my own legs instead of dipping them into what looks like centuries of goo and blood?” proposed she instead of an answer. It would be a hell of a lot more comfortable for what she supposed to do. She hoped. Please do not make it involve this disgusting excuse for water.

The two men reluctantly agreed, Joseph still eyeing the woman suspiciously and Sebastian with little hope to even find a dry place. But despite that, the odd trio began to venture down the slick tunnel, occasionally making remarks about the disgusting fluid around their legs.

The farther they went, the more distinct a piano could be heard in the distance. A woman did not recognise the play, but Sebastian's expression turned sour – that was answer enough. Whatever Ruvik had planned, it was to happen where the lovely tune originated from.  
A woman let the sweet melody cloud her thoughts, let it put her consciousness to sleep. She felt the tension of millennia streaming out of her muscles, her arms hanging limp and feet dragging over the slick ground. A woman still feared what would happen but the music calmed her hot-wiring nerves, letting her forget the stressful last weeks.

A slight glance towards her right showed that her companions had no such relaxation, Joseph's finger were still painfully clutched around his gun and even Sebastian had removed his shotgun from the holster on his back.

_“She was the most perfect being in this miserable excuse for a reality. Fragile, naive and trusting.”_

Squinting, a woman stared in the poorly illuminated distance, though she was sure to make out _something_ in the dark. A patch of darker darkness; nestled into the slick stone wall. Like a notch of some sort.

Confirming her thoughts, Sebastian asked - only beating her by a second, “Hey. Do you see that? I think it's an exit.”

“I don't care even if it's just a stupid box. As long as I can leave this sickening water, it can be whatever it wants to be.” grumbled Joseph miserably

“Or it's just a floating corpse. We could piggyback ride it in turns!” suggested a woman facetiously. The unamused stares she received in return were answer enough. “Yeesh. Talk about a party bummer...”

But upon further inspection, the dark patch was neither a box, exit nor a corpse – as funny as that would have been. It was a simple square room, carved into the stone with a metal wired fence separating it from the disgusting tunnel.

The Woman forced her talons to rip the metallic wires into shreds without any hesitation, ignoring the shocked cries from her humans, and stepped through the created hole. Over her head flickered a single, bare light bulb into life, illuminating the small room.

There was not much to see, really. The naked stone walls were completely barren; the only object a giant copper boiler in the left corner. Next to the kettle was a poorly lit hallway, which ended in a solid stone wall.

“Nothing really in here, is there?” asked Sebastian ironically as he stepped through the hole in the fence as well followed by Joseph, who in turn frowned and looked slightly confused.

“But why would someone fence of a closed room? It's not like normal workers like to bath in the water every time they want to check whatever that in the corner is...” commented he.

“Can't image the asshat to know how sewers work.” grimaced the detective.

“I think the music comes from over there” interrupted the Woman, pointing towards the corridor which seemed darker by the minute.

But yes, the music was definitely louder and the calm vanished into anticipation.

“Can't really say that that's a comforting thought.” huffed Sebastian, turning towards his partner. “I'd honestly rather be in the water again.”

_”My father, the fool, on the other hand was corrupted and took advantage of my sisters' goodness.”_

“Go ahead, Seb. Be my guest. I'll wait here with So-”

“Shush it. I think something moved in there.” interrupted the Woman. The corridor was almost drenched black, the end completely swallowed by darkness, making it seem infinite.

But there, at the cold ceiling, faintly, the outline of a _very_ long limb could be spotted.

“Hide.” hissed Sebastian between clenched teeth and dragged Joseph behind the copper boiler. But the Woman stayed rooted in place, ignoring the whispered demands to search cover.

Straining her eyes, she tried to identify what creature lurked in the shadow though she had a good guess what it would be. What was she supposed to do?

The limbs seemed to get more restless the longer she stared, wildly flailing around, hitting stone walls with wet sounds. A shudder rolled down the Woman's spine.

Was she supposed to wait? To get eaten?

A low hissing sound came from the tangle of too-long arms and legs, followed by a hollow whine with collapsing lungs, the smeary cracking of burned lungs echoing around the small room.

The Woman heard a faint curse from one of her humans as the air a few paces ahead of her began to flicker with static like an old TV. Ruvik appeared on stage once again, the crowd gasped collective in shock, and the antagonist bowed to the masses.

>   
>  The Jester in front of the evil King could only stare as his master looked frosty at his newest pet.
> 
> But the audience cried out!
> 
> “Be careful! Behind you!” they cried as the evil Queen appeared behind the King, her arms lovingly cradling her husband before tearing skeletal fingers into his skin.
> 
> Before her ragged teeth sunk into scarred flesh, the queen's once so beautiful black hair smudged with red ink.
> 
> The Queen devoured her King, the masses groan and the Jester stared.
> 
> And in its place, where before a horrendous spectacle had taken place, was now the most delightful woman, her skin peachy and her hair smooth. A red dress where a rug had been and the masses cheered for the return of the good Queen.
> 
> But the crowd did not see what the Jester saw. The Jester saw the malicious smile tipping the Queen's lips upwards, the evil intent behind charming eyes.  
> 

“Holy _shit_!”

A shout rippled the illusion, like a stone thrown into a lake the play vanished.

The Woman's eyes widen and a faint 'oh' left her lips. In front of her stood Laura in the flesh, smiling. The Woman's eyes widen even more when she finally understood, her heart stopped and her breath refused to leave her rip cage. She understood what Ruvik wanted, how he had seen the danger and had sought a way to cope with it.

She understood her task, but what way to go?

Laura still stood there, unmoving.

_”I had no idea what was going on, foolish child I was. And when I finally found out, it was too late.”_

An idea struck the Woman's mind, so boldly insane that she almost laughed loud and hysterical. She had been so focused on keeping the untainted rest of her mind intact but was still able to come up with such an idiotic plan? Her sanity must have rotten without her noticing.

Swallowing down spit, she combed the rest of the courage she had left together - because the Woman could not approach with anything less than complete assertiveness or confidence - and took a steady and sure step after another until she was directly in front of Laura, only centimetres separating them.

Without hesitation and in one fluid movement, the Woman cradled one of Laura's cheeks in her hand and swooped in for a kiss.

The flesh pressed against her lips lost all sense of smooth and health it had so proudly showed beforehand and revealed it's true, jagged and dry nature.

Despite Laura's complete stillness in motion, the Woman deepened the kiss, forcing the unresponsive lips to move against her own. She lifted her other hand and anchored it in Laura's wavy hair, scratching scalp and roughly tugging a few stands she could get hold of.

The hair, as well, felt unhealthy and spliced, dead.

Laura started to move against the Woman, demanding attention and uttermost submission. A wet tongue slipped between the Woman's lips, searching the inside of her mouth, running along teeth and pressing hard against the fleshy palate.

A low moan escaped the Woman, rumbled between their shared mouth as invisible vibration as her tongue found Laura's and the taste of burned meat, coal and rotten earth dominated her senses for a moment.

One hand running from Laura's cheek towards her breasts, the Woman began to intertwine her tongue with Laura's, a game of dominance between their lips, spreading the foul taste only further inside her mouth.

The Woman's hand found its goal and began roughly kneading the flesh beneath and Laura let out something alike to a gasp, if only something like that would be her way. Instead she swallowed all sound and kissed more fiercely.

Separating for breath, a string of saliva still connecting the two, the Woman ripped the red dress lengthwise with her talons, cutting the fabric as easy as paper. She left a quick peck on Laura's lips before she started to lower herself slowly.

Looking up, the Woman saw a wicked grin on Laura's face, as she trailed a line of licks and kisses down her neck, over the collarbone towards the tender flesh of her breast. As before the illusion of heath vanished with touch and the Woman could feel the uneven and scarred texture under her lips as she moved downwards.

She decided to close her eyes.

Reaching on nipple, she gently sucked on it, feeling Laura's body shudder beneath her – still with no sound leaving her lips.  
After all. This was not Laura herself but the image Ruvik had in his mind of his sister. The real Laura was still dead, the nightmare monster only an embodiment of Ruvik's own guilt, there to haunt him for eternity. And everyone who shared Ruvik's brain shared his memories, regrets and guilt – fending them off or succumbing to them.

But Ruvik's memory of Laura would never moan, too pure for such a vulgar gesture.

The Woman continued her trail down, leaving a line of slick saliva behind as she approached the stomach, and stopped at the navel to lower her tongue into it. Laura gripped the Woman's hair painfully, urging her to continue in her trail.

But the Woman was exactly where she was supposed to be. The stomach showed a slight bump, too faint to notice under clothing. The Woman flashed her fangs.

_”He had already left something inside her and she was too naïve to see it for what it really was. An abomination. But my dear Laura could never believe the evil in mankind existed and it had been my purpose to protect her from its blighted touch. And ultimately, I failed.”_

Laura cried out as the Woman's fangs dug deep into her belly, tearing apart fat and muscle, shredding her uterus. Gore flooded the Woman's mouth, the previous flavour of burned skin washed away by the coppery taste of blood. She gagged as her mouth filled with bleeding flesh, reflexively biting down.

Laura howled in pain and anguish as the Woman began to choke on the gore stuck in her throat, tears in her eyes. Almost there.

Pushing her hand inside Laura's open stomach, the Woman begun to search wildly, clawing at the flesh walls of the womb, tearing the placenta until she got hold of the umbilical cord and dragging it out of the open wound.

With a sickening _plop_ , a small creature landed in the Woman's hand. All strength left her body as her knees hit the ground, still holding the bloody little thing inside her hands.

It looked alien, not at all like a human being but yet more than anything she'd ever seen. So much innocence inside a barley living thing, a slow heart beat rocking its entire chest.

A bloody tear fell on the fetus' body, the heart beat died down.

A sob.

Another tear.

And then, with a quiet crack, the Woman _broke_.

* * *

Joseph found himself unable to move.  
He could only watch in utter terror as Sophia tore open Laura's belly.  
He could only watch in utter terror as Laura's skin began to crumble as if she was a dried fruit.  
He could only watch in utter terror as her skin began to shed, falling wet to the floor in meaty stripes.  
He could only watch in utter terror as Ruvik emerged from the flesh prison, completely unharmed and looking unbelievable smug.  
He could only watch in utter terror as the psychopath's gaze fell to the unresponsive Sophia at his feet, rage twisting his scarred features.

But Ruvik left - leaving gore, blood and a fucking _fetus_ behind.

Unsurprisingly, Sebastian was the first to act.

He stepped out from their hideout, gun in his hand as he approached Sophia.  
But before either of them could say a word, their friend's head twisted around, dead eyes staring at Sebastian and the fetus fell with a slimy _thud_ to the ground.

A feral snarl left Sophia's lips and they did not need any more evidence.

“I'm sorry, Sophia.” murmured Sebastian apologetic, lifted the gun's barrel to their friends head and pressed the trigger twice.

**Author's Note:**

> FUN FACT: A while ago I visited Theresienstadt with my school. They have this interesting dark cell and of course I had to go in and experience it myself. You could hear and see nothing. I was only in there for about a minute but it felt way longer and it was probably the most scary thing I've ever seen. That's where the third passage comes from, just so you know.
> 
>  
> 
> SYMBOLISM: Orange is the colour of social communication and optimism. From a negative colour meaning it is also a sign of pessimism and superficiality. 
> 
>  
> 
> Daffodil symbolizes regard and chivalry. A single daffodil foretells a misfortune while a bunch of daffodils indicate joy and happiness. 
> 
>  
> 
> A Sycamore symbolizes genius and curiosity.


End file.
